seven times more likely to go to university than those who did not. and it is not just the amount of money in the account that makes a difference. it is a lifetime of learning to manage funds, have the incentives and prioritization around managing their own assets. we are very excited to be part of this launch, and we look forward to working with the community to make it successful for all the children in the city. [applause] >> thank you, bob. we could not make this program is success without the incredible support of the school system, and i would like to introduce carlos garcia, the superintendent of schools. >> for us, this is like frosting on the cake. we have been working the last three years in san francisco unified to have a cultural shift in the district. many school districts same -- i do not think they aim high enough.

they say they want the kids to graduate from high school. i'm sorry, but in this day and age, that just is not good enough, so we started about three years ago an effort to include preschool, to have a conversation in kindergarten, to go through all the greats and start talking about -- there is a reason why we call graduation ceremonies in high school commencement ceremonies because it is actually the beginning, not the end. this plan -- yes, it is a commencement. what we forget is we cannot do this by ourselves. to have gavin and jose here -- we have been talking about this for a while. forjose first approached me about this, i thought that he was a little out there, and then

gavin -- we all know he is out there. but to have the supervisors jump in and say this is not about politics. it is really about creating a city where -- dogs get treated great year. no offense because i have a little dog. i know we are dog-friendly, but how about creating the most child-friendly city in the united states? that is what we want to do. what is great is that these folks here had the vision to realize that we cannot just expect the school district to do it all. that is why i think the streets have failed by an american. the only way school district are successful is one entire cities, communities get behind them and start believing in the children. hear, these faults are walking the talk. what really helped us last year, every ninth grader and every single high school is now required to take the a-g

requirement. that means you are not going to take classes that are a waste of your time. every course will get you into college or into a career. about regulating. it is about planning the rest of your life. i do not know about you -- i grew up dirt for. i did not have an account until i went to college and had a girlfriend who was smart enough to say to me that i needed to start putting money away. to have kids who have never had an opportunity for their parents to have an account to start planning for college is fabulous. just think of how we could grow this. we talked about partnerships, and it is great that we have partners who have stepped up, but imagine creating something where students who attend school, if we could find a donor or foundation that would say for every child that shows of all the time, has 90% attendance, we

will grow another $100 into the account. if we got everybody in this community we are born to start throwing in money for the kids. kids are wonderful thing but we need to put our money where our mouth is. we appreciate they are doing great things and we are going to reward them. that is what america is, the most capitalistic country in the world. let's reward these kids so by the time these kids graduate from high school and are ready to go to college, let's have some real money for them. one of the biggest obstacles when you speak to kids in high school, their kids, the no. 1 obstacle why they think they cannot go to college is they cannot think how they would pay for it. that should be out of our vocabulary's. every town that does make it

there, we pay for it tenfold in other ways. of what to think everybody who has stepped up. it seems only appropriate that now i get to introduce one of the parents. that is what we are here for. [speaking spanish] >> [speaking spanish] >> first, thank you for

implementing this program for our kids. it also prepares us, as parents, to think ahead for our kids. thank you. [applause] >> thank you so much. at this time, i want to introduce some of the other elected leaders who are strong chance of this program. this program is supported by the elkton family of san francisco. with that, i want to introduce supervisor bevan dufty. >> good morning, everybody. this morning, i picked up " chronicle" and i was thrilled to see this as the opening story.

i was reading this story and the reporter presented both sides. how are we going to pay for this, the reporter asked? he was being described as fiscally responsible and tight- fisted, and those are not usually words that are thrown in my direction, but it costs over $300 a day for a child to be in juvenile hall. we spend $114,000 a year to keep a young person in juvenile hall. the children we saw in the room today, by the time they are in second grade, what are david and i together? we share the community and children and schools with each other. by the time they are in second grade, they will know the difference between red and blue. it is a dividing line in our community and city. how wonderful it could be if we could aspire, that in 10 years,

the red and blue would be the difference between stanford and cal? that is why i support this program. [applause] >> this is good. i am liking this. thank you, supervisor dufty. i would like to introduce another strong champion and reason for the success of this program, supervisor david campos. [applause] >> thank you. that is pretty good. i do not know about the cal bears part. i wanted to thank mayor newsom on his leadership on this issue. this would not have happened without the mayor making it the priority that it has been. 84 pushing back, even when cuts were being made in city hall.

-- thank you for pushing back, even when cuts were being made in city hall. on a personal level, what is so powerful for may, the notion that when a kid begins the school system that you make it clear to him or her that college is a possibility for them i think that is something that cannot be overestimated. it is something that is powerful. in california, only 10% of latinos have a college degree. 22% for african-americans, compared to 40% of the anglo population. that is a huge disparity, and unless we address it in this state, it will have long-term ramifications about the future of this had state, economically and otherwise. i have always said, i have benefited from the fact that i was an immigrant, that i grew up

in latin america. in latin america, it is not too far-fetched for latinos to go to college. every person who goes to college in latin america is a latino, so the notion that a member of that minority group, go to college was something that you grew up with. a lot of our kids do not have that here. we need to make it clear, in this land of opportunity, that opportunity is available to you. and what a better way of making that statement clear, and then by the government saying we are willing to make that investment, because we believe in you? i think that is powerful. if that is going to change the lives of not only these kids, but the lives of their families. so it is really amazing for me to be a part of this. i want to thank everyone who has made it possible. [applause]

>> thank you, supervisor campos. as you heard, we have a number of strong partners here, on the first day that we are announcing the program, to make this program a success. one of our longstanding partners, an organization that is helping low income families become more successful with their money -- earned. i want to introduce to you the president of earn. >> good afternoon. earn is a program that helps families save and invest, and things like college. for too many years, we have seen families save millions of dollars when they have the incentive to do so and use them for things, like college. today, we are happy to announce we are going to match the first

$100 of a family's savings account for their child's college fund. [applause] we have seen the power of a small incentive like this give real life to aspirations that might feel like a dream but might become a reality for families that participate. i want to say, earn has been successful because of groups that we work with, the new america foundation, for example. we are grateful to have some of the two greatest thinkers in the country hear about this subject. they and the san francisco foundation helped to create our organization. i want to thank you all for being here. appreciate your interest in the program. [applause] >> thank you. as ben mentioned, we have a number of strong organizations

working with us. an organization on the national level is cfed, working to build savings for college accounts. i want to reduce bob of cfed. >> thank you, mr. treasurer, all of you. it has been our honor and freedom, i guess, to be working nationally to create a realistic path for every american to go to college, start a business, buy a home. in that, we have gone to look at the emergence over the last 20 years of children's savings accounts, college savings accounts. i want to take that national perspective and just reflect here. i think it is not just san

francisco being out there, but san francisco being out there in front. i want to make three comments on that. there was a lot of research and demonstration that had gone into this. we had a large seed initiative thousands of people in rigorous evaluations. i have some reports from that. but san francisco carefully considered what had gone before and applied the lessons of that. we found out, given the opportunity, even poor families can save, because it is the price of stability and hope. secondly, there is not just one innovation here. there are a series of them. i think they have been called out, but it is worth underscoring. the city has figured out how to create a flexible, spare

foundation for lifetime savings and aspirations that can be built on. and they had the guts to invest in a tough time, knowing that this is about the future as well as the present. the school system totally integrated teaching, where it ought to be in the school system, and within existing courses. we know there are lots of financial education programs. there is very little effect of this to that without an account attached. and then the city, for those of you who have tried to open up a savings account for a kid, you know it is not easy. this cannot happen unless it is easy. the city has figured out a way to do that and it is rolling it out. finally, to my nonprofit partners, it cannot happen in the public sector alone, you

need nonprofit partners. san francisco is the first but it will not be the last. i imagine 10 of the other cities at san francisco has organized for financial empowerment will follow the lead. i hope the federal government will aspire legislation, or some other child account legislation comment as nomerica has been proposing. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, bob. i am proud to announce today the san francisco foundation has also come aboard to support this program. i know everyone is familiar with them here. they are an incredibly strong community support representative. with that, i want to introduce the ceo of the san francisco foundation, sandra fernandez. >> thank you.

i think you have to have told city leadership, and you can see our mayor, treasurer, superintendent, all understand what part they can play. we also recognize as a community foundation that there are many donors and corporations, philanthropic institutions, that really care about the future of california, and the future really was sitting here about half an hour ago. in addition to the research that has been done, the notion that you expect somebody coming in as a kindergartner to go to college -- if you set the expectation as well as the opportunity -- that is what this partnership is about. we believe in as the building as an important means for people to sit -- for people to pursue economic opportunity and be better citizens. we are happy to partner, bring in our donors and other foundations to help with the matching and financial literacy. we are happy to be a part of

this incredibly exciting program. thank you. [applause] >> one of the primary thought leaders on the national level and that we have been working with is the new america foundation. i am proud to introduce our local thought leader, here in san francisco, with the new america foundation. [applause] >> thank you so much. i am the last speaker. i do not think there is anyone else waiting in the wings. i think it has all been said. i am feeling really proud to be a san franciscan right now. our city, in this area, in many others, are not afraid to go first. we are up here because everything we have seen, from the latest research, from the good work of earn, what fed has

been testing -- cfed has been testing around the country, really improves the odds for success for kids. i know that this is a tough budget time. we need to make sure, especially in education, that every dollar we spend is working as hard as it can. from what we know, at this point, this is going to be a small investment there really pays off later. at new america, it is funny, we are a nonprofit institute. when all the kids were sitting there, i wanted to say, who wants to work at a think tank when they grow up? i am sure there and would have shot up in the air. at new america, we are lucky because we get to advance good

policy. specifically, we want to move forward big ideas that really break out of the traditional, left-right way of approaching things. we think this is one of those ideas. again, we are just excited. we are going to work with everyone here to make sure the account is an effective tool as it can be, for kids as well as parents. and we will help other cities who are interested in this approach, make it happen. i think this will also drive and informed some policy innovation. we are seeing it at the state level and at the national level. there is a bipartisan bill to create a savings account for all americans. with that, i will wrap it up. [applause] >> thank you. i know we have taken a lot of

your time. i think we have a couple more minutes. if there was just a question that we could answer? >> [inaudible] >> i think the question was how much money families could put into the account to make it successful, make sure that they are advancing inflation and things like that. the obvious answer is, the more, the better. our goal is to make sure that they are putting in at least what they can, perhaps $5, $10 a month would be a good start. we hope that they can bring in other family members, friends, employers -- we are or to work with them to make sure these accounts are successful. we just started our negotiations with citibank. we will make sure that they are

low cost for the families and the city. we know that this is the right thing to be doing. it is good business for the bank, the city, and account holders. >> there are no minimum balances or fees for the parents who have these accounts. those 25 students, those are 25 potentially future college graduates, hopefully bankers of san francisco. for all of us, it is an investment over time. they all seem like good clients for the future. >> just to put it in perspective, $20 a month, you will have $14,000 when they are 18th. -- 18. that is not bad. i know that is a lot of money for some people, but when you

kept on hearing today -- which is an important part of what is happening today -- the flat former notion. this is not what we are announcing. we are announcing a platform that can be built on. earn is going to match $100 in savings. who else is out there? citibank says no minimum, no cost. who else is out there? stanford is looking at this. who else is out there? this thing can be built upon. if you are a philanthropist in san francisco and you do not know how to give back to the city, maybe you can put up $100 to these accounts. i am serious, without speaking out of school, i took a bit of my salary and cut it.

what greater return on investment, direct investment, on the quality of someone's life? in 10 years, we are going to look back, a remarkable moment, but we do not know how remarkable. that is why i am so excited and proud to have these partners. and this just started today. >> [inaudible] the initial investment is not a lot of money. as we go through budget challenges, how do you justify spending this money? >> we invested more money this year in health care. we invested more in preschool. we are going to complete maria su's vision of after-school from

years ago. we are making investments. you do not just make cuts. i am sick and tired of the politics in this country. it is a zero sum game. either or, you tax and cut. there is a third way to do things, target investment. it is so inevitable, i cannot believe it. the money is important, but the minimus, we have already attracted more money than we have invested. that is my kind of investment. [applause] >> with that, i want to conclude things for today. a number of us will be sticking around for those of you who have questions. thank you.